[meteorite-list] Related Meteorite Falls 11 years apart? Both Hammers! Both L6 Olivine-hypersthene

Meteorites USA eric at meteoritesusa.com
Sun Mar 7 14:03:25 EST 2010


Hi Listees,

Perhaps this is a dumb question... The Wethersfield meteorite(s) two 
stones fell 11 years apart, both of them crashed through the roofs of 
homes, and both are L6 Olivine-hypersthene chondrites.

The houses that were hit were only 1.4 miles from each other.

Are these two pieces paired? Are they from the same meteoroid stream?

Article on the Wethersfield Meteorite:
http://www.peabody.yale.edu/collections/met/met_wethersfield.html

Newspaper Article - The Day:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19821109&id=yAMhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZnUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2345,1773959

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METEORITICAL BULLETIN ENTRY INFO:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Wethersfield (1982) 
http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/metbull.php?code=24251
Observed fall: Yes
Year fell: 1982
Country: United States
Mass: 2.76 kg

FALL OF THE WETHERSFIELD (1982), USA, STONY METEORITE
Name: WETHERSFIELD (1982)
Place of fall: Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA.
41°42'38"N., 72°40'25"W.
Date of fall: November 8, 1982, 2114 hrs.
Class and type: Stone. Olivine-hypersthene chondrite (L6). Olivine Fa25
Number of individual
specimens: 1 and small fragments
Total weight: 2756 g

Circumstances of fall: Following a fireball and thunder-like booms, a 
mass of 2704 g and about 52 g of fragments were recovered after falling 
through the roof of a house in Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA.

Source: R.S. Clarke, Jr., Department of Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian 
Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560, USA.
Note: The stone which fell in 1971 on the same town should now be 
referred to as the Wethersfield (1971) meteorite.

Name: Wethersfield (1971) 
http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/metbull.php?code=24250
Observed fall: Yes
Year fell: 1971
Country: United States
Mass: 350 g

FALL OF THE WETHERSFIELD, CONNECTICUT, STONY METEORITE
Name: WETHERSFIELD
Place of fall: Wethersfield, Connecticut.
72° 39'E, 41° 42'N.
Date of fall: April 8, 1971. Probably between 0700 and 1100 GMT, and 
certainly between 0430 and 1130 GMT.
Class and type: Stony. Olivine-hypersthene chondrite.
Number of individual specimens: 1
Total weight: 350 g

Circumstances of fall: The meteorite fell through the roof of the home 
of Mr. and Mrs. Paul J. Cassarino and was found in the early morning 
suspended in a ceiling. The specimen was obtained for the Smithsonian 
Institution by Dr. Richard E. McCrosky and is now in the Division of 
Meteorites, Washington.

Sources: Dr. Richard E. McCrosky, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Reports of the Smithsonian Institution Center 
for Short-Lived Phenomena, Cambridge, Massachusetts (Event number 35-71, 
card number 1172 of April 17, 1971, and card number 1175 of April 20, 1971).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What are the chances of this being the same meteoroid(s) orbiting the 
Sun and coming back around in 11 years to smash another house not 1.4 
miles from the first?

Regards,
Eric Wichman
Meteorites USA




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